


Chase Me

by hexthejinx



Series: Fics for Sterek Week [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fox Stiles, Kitsune, M/M, POV Derek, Wolf Derek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-15
Updated: 2013-07-15
Packaged: 2017-12-20 07:56:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/884846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hexthejinx/pseuds/hexthejinx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He snarls, baring his teeth in an obvious display of hostility. Now that he knows he’s dealing with another shapeshifter he can drop all the pretence of being a human. “A fox.” The way he utters the word makes it sound like an insult. In fact, it probably is. It’s not Derek himself who is prejudiced or spiteful, but his wolf. There’s an ancient voice deep inside his head, like an instinct, telling him that everything smelling of a fox or a coyote is an enemy and needs to be hunted down.</p><p>The guy isn’t moved in the slightest by Derek’s behavior. He keeps his cool, standing with his hands buried inside the pockets of his hoodie. “<i>Youkai-kitsune</i>, if you want to be specific.” That little smile is still on his face, and it drives Derek crazy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chase Me

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a prompt from a person who simply asked for wolf!Derek and fox!Stiles.
> 
> EDIT:  
> Jeff announced at SDCC panel that there will be kitsunes on the show. I don't even know anymore.  
> <3

Derek is hanging out at the back of his house, when he senses it. A distinctive smell, unrecognizable but particularly unpleasant. It’s not very strong, still dominated by the usual forest aromas, but the traces are certainly there. For some reason it makes his skin tingle. He walks further into the woods, trying to trace it, to find the source. For a while he just circles aimlessly the nearby bushes but then he picks up a discernible trail. Several minutes later he reaches the outskirts of his premises and finds a guy standing there. Younger than Derek, leaner, though almost as tall as him. The bright red hoodie he is wearing makes him stand out against the greenish-yellowish colors of the trees and the undergrowth. And God, he _reeks_.

“You’re trespassing,” he says, hoping that stating this fact alone will fend the guy off, whoever he is.

The guy rises an eyebrow. “Reaaallly,” he drawls the word out, mouth twisted in a mocking smirk.

As Derek steps closer, attempting to intimidate the guy by simply being his creepy self, he accidentally takes a whiff. The smell tickles his nose, pungent and strong, and suddenly he is able to recognize it.

He snarls, baring his teeth in an obvious display of hostility. Now that he knows he’s dealing with another shapeshifter he can drop all the pretence of being a human. “A fox.” The way he utters the word makes it sound like an insult. In fact, it probably is. It’s not Derek himself who is prejudiced or spiteful, but his wolf. There’s an ancient voice deep inside his head, like an instinct, telling him that everything smelling of a fox or a coyote is an enemy and needs to be hunted down.

The guy isn’t moved in the slightest by Derek’s behavior. He keeps his cool, standing with his hands buried inside the pockets of his hoodie. “ _Youkai-kitsune_ , if you want to be specific.” That little smile is still on his face, and it drives Derek crazy.

“Screw taxonomy.”

“Oh, we know some big words?” The guy is openly sneering now and Derek’s self-control is wearing thin. He balls his fists and presses them against his legs.

“ _Get the fuck out_ ,” he grits through clenched teeth, knowing his eyes are flashing red as he speaks.

The guy holds up his hands in front of him, palms out. “Hey, easy now. You wolfs are so awfully territorial.” He shakes his head, the gesture weirdly sad, but he turns around and walks away. Just before he disappears in the nearby cluster of trees, he looks at Derek over his shoulder and _waves_ at him. “See you around, wolfie!”

Derek is too bewildered to do more than just stare after the guy, astounded.

 

_____________

 

That meeting is their first, but certainly not the last. Several days later Derek is doing groceries, his nose filled with smells of various food and too many people, so he doesn’t pick up at the scent right away. But then somebody bumps against his cart and the smell hits his nostrils with doubled intensity. 

Derek jerks his head around. “You.”

The fox-shifter is right in front of him, leaning casually against his cart, arms folded on the handle. He’s wearing that obnoxious hoodie again. “Me. Hi.” His wide grin makes him look sincerely pleased to see Derek, but the alpha knows when he’s being mocked. It’s a public place, where he can’t wolf out or even bare his teeth, so he makes sure to convey all of his annoyance and antipathy via his patented glare.

“Oh, come on,” the guy rolls his eyes. “I’m not encroaching on your land right now, no need to be so hostile.”

“I don’t like you,” Derek states simply.

“You don’t even know me,” the guys points out sensibly. Derek is so not in the mood to deal with logical remarks right now. “For all you know, I could be a pretty cool person.”

“You smell.”

The guy gapes at the alpha. “I... what?” 

But Derek is already done with the conversation. He pushes his cart around the guy, careful not to touch him as he passes him in a narrow aisle. “Leave me alone. I mean it.” He lets his eyes flash red for a split second, just to get his point across, and gets out of the store as quickly as he can.

 

_____________

 

Full moon is due in a few days, but the call is already very strong. Derek doesn’t fight it, not when there’s no real reason to. He strips on his porch and shifts into the wolf form. Everything feels better this way: brighter, sharper, intensified. The forest summons him, whispers tales about chasing, preys, freedom. He gives in easily and goes for a run. For a long time, hours probably, the world is just a mess of smells and sounds. Trees flicker in the corners of his eyes as he races, dodging branches and fallen trunks, dry leaves crunching under his paws. It’s truly liberating, in a way that only letting go of his human side and becoming a wolf can be.

Suddenly, a familiar odor makes him stop in his tracks. He looks around and spots a fox, his fur dark brown in the sparse light of the moon and stars. He’s bigger than a regular fox, but still smaller than Derek in his animal form. The wolf growls at the fox, who takes to flight and it’s only natural to start chasing after him. The fox is quick, making his way swiftly through the woods and for a while the distance between them doesn’t decrease. His triple tail sways as he runs and if it was Derek, he would thought this is the weirdest thing he’d ever seen. The wolf doesn’t dwell on things like that, doesn’t care. He’s completely focused on following his prey. 

It doesn’t take long before the fox slows down considerably. The wolf lets out a triumphant yip as he advances at the other animal. He corners him against the wide trunk of a lone oak tree. The fox flattens himself to the ground and when the wolf thinks he finally got him, the _kitsune_ darts between his legs so quick the wolf has no chance to grab at him. He turns around and the fox is right there, sitting on the ground only a few feet away. When the wolf surges forward, he scamps off but stops again in the short distance and waggles his three tails. 

It’s only then when the wolf understands. The fox is not afraid of him, he _taunts_ him. He wants the wolf to chase him, to play hunter and prey. Derek the human probably wouldn’t rise to that bait, he would roll his eyes and ignore whoever was teasing him. The wolf has no such qualms. He sprints after the fox and both of them vanish into the forest.

 

_____________

 

Derek is strong enough to withstand the need to shift on the night of the full moon, but he prefers not to. There’s a reason why he lives in an old house in the middle of the woods, after all. Whenever he feels like it, he can let out the animal side of him and roam the forest in peace, not having to worry about harming any human being. 

He’s not even a mile away from his house, when the fox appears. He acts exactly the same as a couple of nights before, tempting Derek to run after him. And just like the other night, the wolf is not opposed to the invitation. As unlikely as it may seem, he finds the mock-hunt to be fun. It’s happy and carefree, something that human Derek doesn’t experience that often in his life.

He chases the fox for a long time, both of them quick and steadfast, but eventually his lungs and muscles protest, so he stops. There’s a cluster of young spruces, providing shelter from the wind. The wolf lies down under them, content to nap for the rest of the night. The fox approaches him, cautious in a way that speaks not about fear, but interest. The wolf follows his every movement with his eyes, but doesn’t react in any way as the _kitsune_ inches his way closer and closer. He stops right in front of the wolf and pushes his wet nose under his ear, sniffing. The wolf flinches, but doesn’t pull away, realizing with a start that at some point the fox has lost his unpleasant smell. It’s still intensive and completely different than Derek’s but he’s no longer reeking.

The fox stops sniffing and lies down along Derek’s side. He wiggles a bit until the wolf snaps his teeth and then settles, curling up and covering his nose with one of his tails. The other two tickle the wolf’s hind legs, but he decides to ignore it in favor of closing his eyes and falling asleep.

 

_____________

 

The fuel gage in Derek’s car indicates that his tank is almost empty, so he drives to the nearest gas station to refill it. He grabs a few things at the store and when he leaves, there’s a car parked in the front of the camaro: a blue jeep, old and battered, and it is one of the most hideous cars Derek has ever seen. There’s also a guy sprawled on the hood, his legs hanging loosely and almost brushing the camaro’s bumper. Derek cringes inwardly.

“Do you own only that one hoodie?” he calls out, approaching the cars.

The guy grins at him. “It’s my favorite.”

“And here I though that maybe you’re a hobo, or something.”

“Ha-ha, very funny.” Despite his slightly indignant tone, the guy doesn’t seem offended. In fact, that mocking smirk is back on his face as he continues speaking. “Coming from someone who probably _sleeps_ in his jacket.” Before Derek has a chance to come up with a retort, he adds, “Nice ride, by the way.”

On most occasions Derek knows how to handle banter but compliments always throw him a bit off his track. “Umm... Thanks.”

The guy’s eyes widen comically. “Wow. So you _can_ act civilized. Nothing like late night cuddles to break the ice, right?”

Derek carefully schools his features, trying to keep his expression as blank as possible. “That’s... The wolf sometimes acts on his own.”

“Seriously, dude?” The guy is giving Derek an incredulous look. “You’re gonna use the ‘my-wolf-made-me-do-it’ card? You’re an alpha. I’m not going to believe that you can’t control yourself while shifted.”

Derek shrugs. “My wolf tends to be more... easy-going, I think.”

“He’s certainly more fun than you, grumpy.”

The alpha rolls his eyes. “You’re so much more sufferable as a fox.”

The guy laughs out loud and nods. “So I’ve been told.”

Derek crosses to the camaro and opens the driver side door. “Move your car out of the way.”

“Aww, running away already?” the guy teases but hops off the hood and rounds the jeep.

“Wait,” Derek calls out just before the _kitsune_ slips inside his car. He hesitates, looking at the alpha questioningly. “I’m going for another run tomorrow. You could... you could join me if you want to.”

The guy’s eyebrows travel high up his forehead. “You’re asking for a company? You? Big, bad, surly, lone wolf?”

“Shut up. You either want to or not, not need to be a smartass.”

“But I _am_ a smartass, can’t do any other way!” the guy laughs. The sound is warm, weirdly contagious and Derek nearly smiles, despite feeling irritated again, which seems to be his default state when dealing with the fox-shifter. “Yeah, I want to. But you’ll have to treat me to some fries afterwards.”

“Fries?”

“Burger’s good too. Hey,” he rises up his hands in mock-defensive movement. “I’m not in a very good shape, all this exercise makes me hungry.”

Derek snorts; he just can’t help it. “Fine. On the condition that you at least _try_ to be less obnoxious.”

The guy proves to be utterly ridiculous as he points a finger-gun at Derek, backing out to his driver side door. “We’ve got a deal, wolfie.”

“Derek.”

“What?” The guy is already inside the jeep. He rolls down the window and sticks out his head in order to hear the other man speaking.

“My name’s Derek.”

The _kitsune_ grins at him. “Stiles. See ya tomorrow.”

Derek watches Stiles back his car out on the street and thinks he’s just gotten himself in a major trouble. He doesn’t mind it that much.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hello on [Tumblr](http://hexthejinx.tumblr.com)!


End file.
